Start of Something New
by Dark SpellMaster
Summary: Senior year always brings about changes, or so Yuugi's noticed. Already things have changed. Anzu's not in his class anymore, and his mother is bugging him about the future. And what about that new girl that's working at the shop?
1. First day of school

AN: Yugioh is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and licensed to Viz Communications and 4Kids Enterprises. It should be known that Dark and any subsequent non Yugioh Characters are mine. So please if you want to use them ask me first. By the way if anyone can give me a better title for this, please let me know.

Start of Something New

_Rain, why did it have to rain today?_ I wondered as I ran to the bus stop. Of course, on the first week back to school, the very first day of my last year at Domino High-school, I have to forget my umbrella, and it starts to rain. Not that I mind the rain, actually I'm glad to have it since it means that springs on the way, but I would rather it not be so cold. I pulled my jacket closer around my neck and dashed through the puddles down the two blocks that separate my house from the bus stop. I can hear thunder rumbling and I sped up. My shoes are soaked, and I can feel my bangs limply hanging against my forehead. I bet I look terrible, and Kaasan is going to notice right away. Maybe I should have gone with Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun to the arcade.

"It looks like there's going to be a thunderstorm," Anzu was saying as we got to school this morning. The winds were whipping hard against us, and the sky was a darker gray then usual. I kept blushing because I had to avert my eyes each time her skit got teased up by a breeze. One thing about Anzu, she hasn't changed since our first year, she's still as pretty as ever.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I should get home early. Jiichan's going to get a new shipment of Duel Monsters in, and I promised I'd sort them for him."

Anzu smiled and nodded as I added, "You wouldn't want to come over would you?"

Her smile shrank some, and she let out a little sigh, "Yugi, I have work today and…"

"Oh," I said and smiled at her even though I knew there was more that she was going to say. "That's okay. I understand."

She went quiet and thought a moment as if figuring out something, then said, "But Yugi I can come over tomorrow."

"Sure thing," I grinned and she smiled as we went up to the board to find our classes. We change our classes every year, and so far I've been lucky enough to be with my best friends, Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun, and Anzu. So I was hoping luck would be with me this year as well. I glanced over at Anzu as I searched the white board, she was trying to look busy but I knew she felt bad. She had been trying to keep her own feelings covered since the winter of last year, when my other self had returned to his rest. She missed him terribly, more then she wanted to admit to, and it had made things tense between us.

"So?" I asked finally after I found my name, "Which room?"

Anzu was staring at the board, as if she didn't hear me. "Anzu?" I reached up to tap her shoulder when I heard a familiar voice go, "Hey!" and I jumped.

Whirling around I found myself face to face with my best friend, Katsuya Jounouchi, who was leaning against the board. His blonde hair was mussed up some; obviously he had run most of the way to the school. "I thought I saw you two here."

"Did you find your class already?" I asked excitedly, hoping that it was going to be the same as mine, 3-B. Jounouchi-kun nodded and pointed to his name on the wall.

"Yup, there ya go, 3-B, and Honda's in there as well."

I grinned brightly, "This is great! Where is Honda-kun?"

Jounouchi gave me a puzzled look, "I don't know. I thought you might have seen him."

I shook my head and was about to ask Anzu if she had seen him.

"Yugi, Jou Anzu," a voice called over the crowd and we scanned about to see a tall boy trying to push through the crowds that were chattering about the classroom they had gotten into. "Excuse me," he was saying then more loudly, "Hey can you get out of the way!"

"Honda?" Jounouchi looked as puzzled as I felt. The boy that came up to us looked a lot like Honda-kun, but he didn't seem the same. His bangs were cut shorter, and he had a tan. The boy nodded and laughed.

"Yeah, who else?"

"What happened to you?" Jounouchi-kun spat out suddenly, then pointed to the bangs. "You cut your hair?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "my mom insisted this year. We made a deal, if I keep up my grades I can grow them back."

Jounouchi chuckled, "Well I guess you're gonna have to say bye to all those hair sprays you used to use."

Honda-kun knocked him into the board covering his mouth, "Shhhh, not so loud would ya."

"What," Jounouchi-kun teased, "don't like to admit that you use girl's hairspray?"

"Yeah well, you'd be wise not to say that if you don't want people knowing that you dye your hair." Honda-kun looked annoyed and then glanced at me. "Yug does it look bad? Be honest."

I shook my head and smiled, "It looks nice Honda-kun. We didn't recognize you at first."

He looked relieved, "Well at least I don't look like one of those models." He shivered some, "My sister wanted me to look like that," –he pointed to his face –"Why she took me to get this stupid tan."

I nodded sympathetically, though Jounouchi-kun was having a hard time not exploding into a fit of giggles, and Honda-kun kept giving him annoyed looks. Trying to ease the tension I quickly pointed out that we we're all in the same class room. Honda-kun grinned at this.

"That's great," he was saying and turned to ask Anzu who was talking to a girl near her. "Hey Anzu, what room do you have?"

She glanced over at us, and blinked some, "Well, I…I have 3-A."

I quickly went over to where here name was listed and looked again. There had to be a mistake, there just had to. We we're supposed to go into the same class. That's how it had always been. I ran my finger over the names and paused when I found Mazaki, Anzu in big bold print. Then slid it sideways along the dots to the left, there in the same bold letters was the name of her assigned room. 3-A. I blinked, rubbed my eyes and looked at her. "How?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I guess…"

Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun gazed over my shoulder at it. Jounouchi was scowling, "Hey…what gives. Isn't the A Class the super smart group?"

Honda shook his head, "This can't be. I mean I know Anzu's good in her grades but…"

Anzu put her hands on her hips, "What? You don't think I'm smart enough to be in that class?"

Her glare made Honda-kun shuffle back some, waving his hands, "Naw No, of course not. I just…er…I thought…well…I've never seen you as a brain that's all."

Anzu rolled her eyes at him and Jounouchi gave her a sad look, "Means you won't have classes with us huh?"

"I guess not," she looked down at me. "Yugi…"

I was still staring at the class room. _This isn't fair, this so isn't fair._ I kept thinking even as I blinked away hot tears. Anzu had always been in my classroom, we'd gone through middle school together. We were supposed to go through high-school. I bit my lip and gave her a grin, "I'm okay. We can see each other at lunch right?"

She smiled and nodded, "And after school too."

"Right," I said and told myself nothing was going to change because of this. It might be a good thing, and give her time to breath. But by the time lunch came I was starting to question that. Jounouchi-kun was talking with Bakura-kun who was also in my class and Honda-kun seemed to be busy talking to a girl named Mayumi Asabi, who is the captain of the girls soccer team, so seeing as I had a free moment I grabbed my lunch in the hopes that I could eat it with Anzu. However when I got to the class room I found her surrounded by a group of girls.

"So is it true that you're dating Jounouchi-kun?" asked one of them. Anzu laughed at this.

"No way," she shook her head and smiled, "We're just friends."

"But what about that cutie Bakura-san?" asked another girl with a blue bow in her hair and Miho Nosaka who was standing near them glared.

"Bakura-kun's not going out with anyone but me," she said with a huff, as if to challenge anyone to disagree with her. I had to giggle at this; she could be very cute without intending to. I stayed by the door, so that Anzu couldn't see me but I could see and hear all she said.

"Well how about Honda-san," another girl with glasses asked leaning on the desk. "Come on Anzu you can't say he's not cute at least."

Anzu chuckled, "Honda's always been nice to me Anna, but, we're just friends, its how I am with all of them."

Anna nodded but didn't seem convinced about this. She crossed her arms and stared hard at Anzu, "Then what about Mutou Yugi?"

"Yugi?" Anzu looked at her with a gently smile, "What about Yugi?"

"Well are you interested in him, or not?" Anna blatenly asked and I blushed. Why did she have to ask Anzu that question; Anzu blushed and looked down some as if considering things.

"Well?" Anna asked again and Anzu replied politely.

"I wouldn't say that I'm not, but…well I have to get over someone first, I'm not interested in dating right now." She blushed and instantly the other girls had to know about this other guy. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I may have bumped into the door because one of the girls said, "I think someone's out there."

I stood up fast as Anna came out of the room, her short black hair swinging by her ears. She glowered at me, "Hey what did you hear?"

"Nothing," I lied to her and Anzu came out with two of the other girls and Miho. I think she knew I had heard because as soon as our eyes locked she blushed and looked at me with a bit of guilt.

"Yugi," she started but I didn't want to hear it, and quickly said.

"I-I have to get back to class. I'll see you later Anzu." She nodded as I hurried away. To my back I could hear Anna saying.

"He's so small, he looks like a kid."

Miho was quick to add, "But he's really sweet."

"Still, he's not boyfriend material," Anna pointedly said and I felt my face flush as I walked dejectedly back into my classroom. Jounouchi-kun and Bakura-kun were the first to notice that I was looking sad. Jounouchi nudged me with his elbow during English later that afternoon. I had dozed off and must have looked down because he asked, "So who's the jerk that punched you in the gut, Yug?"

I shook my head and smiled at him, "No one beat me up Jounouchi-kun."

"I think he means it figuratively," Bakura quickly pointed out and patted my shoulder. The teacher, Mataka-san gave us all sharp looks and we pretended to be reading. A moment later Jounouchi flipped me a note that read.

**What happened? Didn't you go to see Anzu?**

I quickly wrote back, and we sent this between the two of us, Bakura adding in things here and there.

**What happened? Didn't you go to see Anzu?**

Yes I did, but she was busy talking to some other girls.

**Other girls? Like who?**

Just girls in her class. It doesn't matter.

**Yug, you don't go to see Anzu, then come back looking like someone punched ****ya in the gut without telling me what happened.**

And I told you nothing. I'm fine.

_**Yugi**** I just think that Jounouchi is worried about you. **_

But I'm okay. Really.

**Yeah but. Yug, come on. You can't tell me that you're okay.**

**_Beside, I'm sure we can help you. You're always helping us._ **

I know but, it's not that important. Anzu was just talking to some girls, and they made fun of me. That's all. I shouldn't worry you guys about something silly like that.

**Yugi****, what did they say? **

**What does it matter what they said! IF they're makin fun of Yugi then they're on my 'List" and they _REALLY Don't_ want to be on my list.**

Jounouchi-kun, please! Don't make a big deal about this. Really, it's okay.

**Yug. Come on now. They didn't have a right to make fun of you and you know it!**

Please. I'm okay. And we better stop before we get into trouble. I'll talk to you later.

I threw him back the note and quickly looked busy so I didn't get a detention. By the end of the day the clouds had become overcast and the threat of rain seemed imminent. As I threw my shoes on Jounouchi-kun hurried over and shook me by my shoulder.

"Hey, you up for some games at the arcade?" He grinned at me, and I smiled back some.

"Uh…well…" I started to say when I saw Anzu walking towards us.

"Yugi, can I talk to you for a minute please?" she asked me, and I nodded telling Jounouchi I would be right back. We walked around into an empty classroom and I sat down while she stood by the desk. Anzu smiled at me softly. "Yugi…I just…I wanted to say I'm sorry that you heard that. You're one of my best friends ever Yugi."

"But, its true though, isn't it?" I asked her quietly, "That you need time?"

She nodded slowly and I blinked back hot tears. I had always thought that Anzu loved both of us, but maybe that was my mistake. She touched my shoulder softly and smiled at me with so much warmth that I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yugi. You've always been my best friend, more then that to me. But right now, I need to find some closure. I…I never did tell him how I felt, because..."

I nodded and stood up, "I know. It's okay Anzu. I understand."

She hugged me and then hurried out of the room, and I followed. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun were waiting when I got to the door. Both were scowling and Honda-kun was in a huff.

"Terrific," Honda-kun was saying as he held his hand out, and felt the rain drops pour down. He shook out his hand and glanced over at Jounouchi, "You still up for the arcade?"

Jounouchi-kun nodded, "Yeah." Then he noticed me coming over and smiled, "Hey Yug, you comin' with us? I hear they got some new fighting games with Bruce Lee."

I gave him a smile and shook my head. "No thanks. I have to help Jiichan. Maybe tomorrow okay?"

"But Yug," Honda-kun started to stay and I smiled, waved, and ran out into the rain shouting that I'd see them tomorrow. As I ran away I could hear Jounouchi-kun's voice say to Honda-kun. "Let 'im go for now. He needs to sort things out on his own. When he's ready we'll come to him."

On my ride home I stared out the bus window and my mind wander back to the weeks following the departure of my other self. I had promised myself after that day I was going to live my life, tell my story. But having him so long in my mind it was weird having my own thoughts back to myself. Somehow my friends rallied around me and brought me out of my state of mourning. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun were always ready to go out with me, and just hang out. We'd talk about Atem as if he was still there, and I can remember what Honda-kun once said to me.

"You know, if it weren't for you Yugi, he couldn't have done half of what he did. You were the key to giving him his power, even though he stood out; you were the real power to him."

I had never looked at it like that; most of the time I had tried to become stronger to protect my friends, so I didn't need to rely on Mou hitori no boku. Jounouchi-kun said it best to me one night as we were watched the stars from my room. He was thinking of his sister who was going to be moving in with him as he spoke, "You know Yug. I always said that I wanted to get strong enough to beat him, but to tell the truth, it's you that I wanted to get strong enough to beat. I mean it would have been great to actually get past him, but I think that, well…" he looked at me with a serious gleam to his brown eyes, "You were the one to get me into the game in the first place. And hell, if it wasn't for you standing up for me, showing me that I wasn't as much of a punk that I thought I was, well, I might have never been able to get as far as I have. Heck, I think even Kaiba respects you, even if that jerk doesn't say it. It's been all you this time, not him. Don't forget that. There's only one Yugi in this world."

I smiled at that, and nodded. But even knowing this, knowing who I am, that doesn't mean that Anzu will just love me for me. She felt a connection to Mou hitori no boku, and even I can't deny that fact. He didn't go out with her because he knew how I felt for her, though he never said that to me. Still I should try; I have to try at least to be someone that she could be happy going out with. I can't help how I feel for her, and if I don't at least find out if she can feel for me the same way, then I'm always going to wonder about it.

I got off at my stop and plunged through the storm, catching a glimpse of myself in a store window as I ran. My tri-colored hair is limp and I try to straighten it. I'd like to say I grew a few inches, though I don't think so, and my eyes are still as wide and innocent as they were when I left Egypt. But I like to think that I've gotten stronger since then. That I can take on anything that's thrown my way.

"Jiichan!" I shouted coming into the shop, rain drenched, and a bit chilly. I squeaked across the floor, the lights were dimmed, and I heard music and some light singing coming from the back room. I called again just to be sure, "Jiichan, is that you?"

The singing stopped as I tiptoed across the wood floor to the counter and push up the small flip top to go inside. I slipped around to the stockroom where all the cards were kept. It was dark, but I saw someone on the ladder fiddling with the cards. Their head was bopping back and forth, and I could tell from the silhouette that it wasn't Jiichan. The person seemed to be looking through the cards, and for a moment I thought they were a burglar.

_I have to get Jiichan, _I thought and turned to go, but then stopped, what if the person was gone by the time I went to find him. I didn't even know where he was. As far as I could tell the person didn't look like they were armed, so I screwed up my nerve and jumped out, blocking the door and yelled, "Hey! What do you think you're doing in here!"

The person on the ladder turned too fast, I heard a scream and saw them topple over into the box behind them. I was running then, hoping that they weren't hurt.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay…" I stopped when I got close and turned on the lamp that Jiichan had set up on a shelf. The person was a girl, who was splayed out in the box on her back. Her knees were bent over the edge and she was rubbing her head. In the light I could see she was wearing jeans with sneakers, a pink short sleeved shirt, and a butterfly clip in her purple hair. She glanced up at me with a pair of dark blue eyes, and I took a step back blushing out of embarrassment.

"I think so," she said sitting up, then her hand slipped and she landed back in the cards. "Just give me a minute."

"I'm really sorry," I mumbled and held out my hand, she took it, smiling.

"That's okay, you just spooked me." She sat up and rubbed her back. "Well at least I know now that Duel Monster cards can be used as an air mattress."

I chuckled some lightly, and she stood up dusting her pants off. Standing up we were almost of equal height and she reached up to fix the light. "Well we do have a mess here don't we."

"Yeah I guess we do," I bent down and she followed suit picking up the card packets.

"Thanks, I'm Dark by the way, and you must be Mutou-san's grandson right?"

I nodded, "Yes I'm Yugi, Pleased to meet you Dark-san."

"Pleasures all mine," she dumped them back in the box. "By the way, who were you looking for when you came in? I heard you shouting something but I wasn't sure what name you were saying."

"Oh I was calling for my Jiichan," I started to explain, when I heard feet hurrying down the stairs. We peeked out around the door to see Jiichan standing at the bottom step huffing, and puffing. "Yugi? Oh my boy, don't scare me like that. I heard a scream. Is everything okay?"

Dark-san raised her hand and looked down, "That would be me Mutou-san. I'm so sorry; I thought I saw a mouse and I fell off the ladder. Your grandson was just helping me up."

_A mouse?_ I glanced at her and she gave me a look that read 'Don't disagree'. I guess she thought I would be in trouble, but I quickly explained to him that I had come in and scared her off the ladder. Jiichan chuckled and smiled at me, "Yugi, why don't you come up with me and get changed out of those wet cloths. Dark-san, when you're done with the cards come up for some hot chocolate okay?"

Dark-san grinned and nodded, "Sure thing Mutou-san." She grinned at me as I followed Jiichan up the stairs. "Nice meeting you Yugi."

"Um..same here, " was all I could think to say, it made sense now. Jiichan had been looking for additional help, and this girl must have gotten the job. He smiled at her. As we walked up the stairs I asked. "Jiichan, just exactly who is she?"

"Who? Speltman-san?"

"Is that her last name?" I inquired and he nodded.

"She's a college student from America." He opened the door to our apartment as he spoke. "She came in this morning just after you left. Remember I had put out that "Help wanted sign?"

I nodded, of course I did, Kaasan had been bugging him for weeks to get additional help after the situation with his back in the Grand Prix. I could remember my mother's face when we got back; she crossed her arms and gave my grandfather a long lecture on how older men should be careful with their bodies because they're only going to get worse as time went on.

"You should spend more time worrying about your back and heart, and less time chasing after young girls with short skirts," she had told him. Of course Jiichan certainly listens to Kaasan, just in his own way.

"So you put out the sign and…?" I inquired as I took off my shoes.

"And she came in, and asked if she could apply for it. You're not disappointed by this Yugi? Are you?" He asked me as I headed for the stairs to our bedrooms. I shook my head, "No, I'm not. I just wish you would have told me that you were going to hire some one. I thought I was going to be helping you out this year."

"But of course you are," he said to me with a laugh watching me carefully for a reaction. To say that I was disappointed wouldn't be true, but I was hoping that this would let me spend more time with him. And now I would have to share that with a girl I didn't even know. The whole thing seemed just a tad bit unfair to me, after all he was my grandfather first. "And I'm sure that you and Dark-san will get along quite nicely. She's going to need your help getting acquainted with the shop you know."

I just nodded, "I'm going to change, be back in a minute."

I think that something in my voice must have sounded a bit let down because he was quick to add. "She's very nice, Yugi."

"I'm sure she is," I said and shut my door. I pulled off my wet uniform then slipped into a blue t-shirt and warm sweat pants and socks. I picked a towel out of my linen basket and dried my hair going back down to the kitchen. I sniffed the air and licked my lips, "Cookies?"

Jiichan nodded, "You're mother made some." He pointed to the hot tray of peanut butter cookies and I happily took two. Then sat down at the table as Jiichan made the hot chocolate, he glanced up at me and I kept my eyes down. I was still feeling bad about scaring Dark-san, but more about Anzu and her new friends. Clearing his throat he said quickly.

"Do you want to hear where she came from?"

I blinked, "Sure."

He smiled at me and poured a mug of the chocolate for me, then sat down. "Well I had just put out the sign when it started to rain a few minutes later Dark-san came in quiet wet and looking rather nervous. Now I thought she was just looking for a place to get in out of the rain, but she said she saw the sign out in my window and was walking back and forth trying to work up the nerve to come in and ask to apply for the job. Well how could I turn down a young woman in distress?"

I covered a laugh by taking a big bite of my cookie, thinking; _you just thought she had a pretty face, Jiichan._ But I nodded and let him continue his story.

"Well, she's not an expert at games, but she certainly knows her card games, and I think she's into magic."

"Huh? Why?" I asked and he grinned.

"Well while I gave her a test to see if she knew different card games, she shuffled in an unusual way." He demonstrated with his hands showing that she seemed to move the cards between her fingers in a way that made them climb down from her index finger to her pinky. "It's the same style as some magicians use when performing their tricks. But when I asked her about it, she just sort of clamed up, I guess she didn't want to explain where she learned it. But I talk too much…" he glanced up and I followed him. Dark-san was standing at the door way, smiling softly. I wonder if she heard us, though if she had she certainly didn't say so.

"I finished with the cards, Mutou-san," she said and looked at the cookies. Jiichan held the tray up for her.

"Cookie?"

"Yes please, I'm starving," she walked over and grabbed two, eating one quickly, then glanced at me and swallowed. I guess I must have been staring at her because she looked away and sat down as Jiichan got her some hot chocolate.

"So what were you two talking about?" she inquired and I shrugged.

"Jiichan was just telling me how you came to work for him."

"Oh," she said and tapped the mug when he gave it to her. "Well it's not that interesting. I just needed work."

"You're from America?" I asked, trying to make conversation, even though I didn't really feel like it, what was I supposed to say to her? Just a few minutes ago I had scared her off a ladder, and now she was eating cookies with us. I guess she was just as nervous as I was because she didn't say much, just nodded.

"Yeah, I'm from Oak Park, in Illinois, but I've been living with my Dad in California for the past seven years." She said softly and dunked her cookie in the hot chocolate. I had to smile at this; my Tousan does the same thing with his cookies. Only with hot chocolate, he tells me all the time, does it taste as good.

"Dark-san, didn't you say you were studying at the university?" Jiichan said and sat down. She nodded again as if trying to wiggle out of the conversation.

"Well yes, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be my major, but I wanted to learn outside of the states for a while." She glanced at the clock, and stood up. "I should really be going."

"Oh, you don't want to stay for dinner?" Jiichan asked, and she shook her head.

"Thank you, but I really need to get my homework done. It was really nice to meet you Yugi," she picked up another cookie and grinned. "For the road; I like chocolate chip the best, but peanut butter is always good. See you."

With that she headed down the stairs. Jiichan followed, probably to let her out of the shop. I got up and walked to the doorway, and listened. He was telling her what time to come to work during the week, and, to my surprise, that I'd help her learn about the games. She thanked him and went out the door. I moved back to the table and finished my cookie. My mind was on too much that evening during dinner, as Jiichan told Kaasan about Dark-san, so I excused myself and went to my room to go to bed.


	2. Games to play

The following morning gray clouds still covered the sky and this time I remembered to bring my umbrella. When I got down from breakfast Jiichan was already in the shop. He smiled at me, "Good morning Yugi."

"Morning Jiichan," I said with a smile feeling a bit better after a good nights sleep. "I'm going to hang out with Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun today."

"Alright but be home by eight," he said in his parental way. "I don't want you staying out to late. This weather could give you a good cold."

"I won't," I promised and took an apple that he handed me, then hurried out of shop. As I got to school Anzu was waiting for me and I waved to her. She ginned at me, but then I saw Anna and her friends hurrying over to her.

"Anzu," I hear Anna say as I passed by, "The movie starts at five, I figure we can get in some shopping before then."

Anzu laughed, "That'll be fun. Excuse me." She slipped past the other girls and headed over to me as I stood by the gate. "Yugi, Good morning."

"Morning," I said and smiled, "how was work?"

"Same as always, Maroko was being sour all night. It's a wonder he's the manager," She explained and I nodded, and then glanced over at Anna who was standing with Miho. She looked at me softly and said, "I'm coming over by you, you know."

"Oh really?" I started to ask and looked over at the girls. "Funny sounded like you were going with them to the movies."

She shook her head, "I never said yes to that."

"But you want to go," I said and she shook her head again. "You don't?"

"No, I want to come over and hang out," she told me and smiled. "I told you yesterday I wanted to, so I'll be over at four. Okay?"

I nodded, "Okay" and she walked back over to the other girls to talk. I grinned to myself. This was going to be a fun day, Anzu was going to come over, and maybe I could get Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun to come and visit. I walked into class; Bakura-kun was sitting talking to Asabi-san, waved me over.

"Yugi," he said with a gentle smile, "I'd like you to meet my friend Mayumi-chan. Mayumi; this is my dear friend Yugi."

I smiled and she grinned at me, "Pleased to finally meet you Yugi, Ryou-kun's told me how you won Duelist Kingdom. How was your trip to Egypt by the way? I've always wanted to go there."

She pushed her green hair behind her ear and I saw Bakura-kun watch her with a blush to his face. I hid a smile as we spoke. Mayumi had met Bakura-kun over the summer when he had found her hat, but she wasn't in our class last year.

"It was really lucky that he managed to find the cap," she was telling me and touched his hand. Bakura-kun blushed again, mumbling softly, "No it wasn't."

"Yes it was, don't lie," she giggled and looked at me. "He's so modest around me. Is he always that way to you, Yugi?"

"Well you never know with Bakura-kun," I laughed and Bakura glanced away obviously knowing I meant his other self. _I guess he still hasn't come to terms with that yet._ I thought as Mayumi-chan got up, she whispered something to Bakura then headed out of the room waving at me.

"Bakura-kun, I was wondering," I asked quickly, "Do you want to come over to hang out today?"

"After school?"

I nodded and he blushed, "Well um, actually I was going to go watch a movie with Mayumi-chan after school. Maybe some other time Yugi?"

I smiled, "Okay, well have fun then."

Bakura turned a bit red and I laughed in spite of myself. I was really happy for him. Bakura-kun has always had the worst time in school ever since he transferred here. Teachers didn't like him because of his hair, and some students used to make fun of the fact that he was such a quiet person. We became his first friends here, and I was glad that someone could see the good in him the way we could. I grinned and he chuckled.

"You're going to ask how long we've been going out, aren't you?"

I nodded slowly as he smiled, "About a month. I couldn't go out with her before because…well you know. If Voice did come out, I…I didn't want her to get hurt."

He looked away and asked, "Do you ever miss him?"

"Mou hitori no boku?" I asked and he nodded as I slipped into my chair. "Yes. Most of the time I do. I think I hear him when I go to sleep, but then I wake up and he's not there."

"Sometimes I think we're the only two people in the world that can ever understand this type of loss." He says quietly and I nodded my head. Talking to Bakura helped me a lot when I first felt down. It's something that brought us closer as friends. Even though our other selves were enemies, somehow, we became good friends. I think that's one of the strengths that bind my friends to me; that no matter what happens, we're always going to be friends. I smiled as I saw Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun running in.

"Hi you two," I said as they slammed the door looking scared.

"Yug, Bakura…don't…open…the…door." Jounouchi panted and Honda-kun stared at us looking pale.

"What's the matter," I got up followed by Bakura and my two best friends look at each other with scared expressions as Honda says slowly.

"Girls, are really, really freaky!"

"Um…" Bakura sweat drops at this. "What makes you think that?"

"Because," Jounouchi-kun says in a way that makes it seem the most obvious thing in the world. "They've been tryin' all day to grab Honda."

"Huh?" I looked at Honda-kun puzzled, "Why are they trying to grab you?"

He slumped down, "This damn new look. I'm cursed I tell you. I wanted a girlfriend, but not like this!"

"I don't…" I start to say but then Honda shoved a magazine in my hand and I stare at a picture of a singer of a pop band. "Hey, he looks just like you."

"Not quite but close enough," Honda-kun says with a snort and glowers at the page. "I'd love to knock his smug mug in. Bet he's the one my mom cut my hair after."

Jounouchi-kun glanced at the page, then back at Honda, then back at the page again and said, "Nah, he don't have that 'I'm thinking deep thoughts so much that my head hurts' look."

"Are you sayin I'm not good looking?" Honda hissed, and Jounouchi-kun chuckled.

"Nah I'm sayin that you've got more hound dog look." And he pulled his lips down to make a drooping face.

"I'll hound dog you…" Honda-kun said dropping the magazine, which Bakura-kun collected. He stared at the page and blinked.

"I'm assuming that the reason you were chased in here by girls who thought you might be him?"

Honda-kun nodded slowly as he tried to grab hold of Jounouchi-kun who had scrambled on the teachers desk and was making rude gestures to him. Bakura-kun and I sighed, "I'll go check."

"Yugi don't," Honda and Jounouchi shouted and steeled themselves behind the desk. However when I pulled the door open, there was no one in the hallway. Honda-kun let out a sigh of relief as I slid the door shut.

"See," I said with a grin, then quickly asked if there was any chance of them coming over after school. Jounouchi grinned and jumped off the teacher's desk.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted us to come over."

Honda-kun groaned, "I can't."

"Why not," Jounouchi-kun gave him a quizzical look.

"My mom wants me to watch Joji today," he explained and then he gave Jounouchi-kun a thump in the shoulder. "And didn't you say you have that magazine delivery thing?"

"Damn, that's right," Jounouchi-kun rolled his eyes and sighed, "And Shizuka's got art classes after school. I totally forgot about that." He looked at me sadly, "Yug, I'm really sorry."

I smiled, "It's okay. Anzu said she'd come over, so."

"Anzu's coming over huh?" Jounouchi-kun smirked at me as the rest of the class started to file in. I held up my hands and moved back.

"No, nothing like that, Jounouchi-kun. We were just going to watch movies."

"Right," He covered a giggle then whispered, "Uh by the way did you ever…"

"The tape?" I sat down fast and shook my head, "I'm really sorry but I think that Jiichan found it and…"

"Ahem," our homeroom teacher gave us a severe look and we became quiet. It wasn't until fourth period, when we have Science that our routine became interrupted. As we shuffled into the lab, our teacher Hayashi-sensei was standing talking with a very tall good looking young man. Both were wearing lab coats, and the young man had his black hair slicked back. He had dark brown eyes and grinned at us as we came in.

"Good afternoon," Hayashi-sensei was saying and we greeted him. Bakura-kun was sharing a lab with me while Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun sat behind us. Both were trying to figure out if they could use the glass stirring rods as spit ball shooters, if they broke off the back ends.

"Jounouchi-san, Honda-san. Please refrain from blowing things up until we actually start doing the labs this year," Hayashi-sensei was saying. My friends quickly put down the rods and tried to look innocent as the class chuckled some. Our teacher grinned under his thick beard.

"I'd like to introduce to you Renga Ki'ichgo. He's going to be our student teacher for this year, and I'd like you to treat him the same way you treat me…" he paused and looked at some of the students, namely Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun, "On second thought, treat him BETTER then you treat me."

Ki'ichigo grinned at us, "I'm pleased to meet you all, and I hope to get to know all of you before the middle of the term."

"If you have any questions Ki'ichigo will be assisting, so you may ask him. He'll also be teaching a few of the labs," Hayashi-sensei was saying. The day moved fast after that, and Anzu came into the class for lunch with us. It felt like old times, she told us about her teachers, and how she thought that Hayashi-sensei's beard had grown another foot.

"Any longer and birds can nest in there," Honda-kun joked. I watched them, a smile creeping onto my face, regardless of the weather. This was how it was supposed to be. Always. By the end of the day I was already racing out of the building shouting goodbyes as I hurried to the bus stop. The rain was heavy again, and I had given my umbrella to Anzu because she forgot hers at home.

"Yugi, I can't take this," she tried to give it back to me but I just smiled.

"Yes you can. You can give it back when you come over, see you at five!"

Before she could argue I ran for the bus. Rain poured over my head, but I didn't care. I nearly danced my way home thinking that Anzu was coming over and that maybe I could tell her how I felt.

The rain seemed to clear up as I got to the shop; I held a book over my head, and dashed along the street, splashing up puddles. Ducking inside I waved to Jiichan as I took the steps two at a time.

"Yugi," he said following me. "There's something I need to tell you."

"No time," I shouted dropping my wet bag by the landing and throwing off my shoes. "Anzu's coming over and I need to change out of these wet cloths."

"But Yugi," Jiichan was saying as I hurried up to my room and opened the door. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Jiichan, can it…wait." I paused at the door and noticed something moving in my bed. Shutting my door I turned on the light and walked over to my bed to find Dark-san sleeping quietly in my bed. I blinked and blushed some, feeling rather weird. _What is she doing in here? Maybe I should just let her sleep. But I have to change. _

I bent down near her ear and whispered quietly, shaking her shoulder some, "Dark-san, please, you have to get up."

She mumbled and slowly blinked her eyes open, then looked at me, "Yugi?"

"Hi, ah," my hand slipped onto her forehead and I pulled it away. "Dark-san, you're hot."

"Huh?" she mumbled. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

I shook my head, blushed just a bit, "No, Dark-san you're head feels really warm. I'm going to get Kaasan okay?"

I slipped quietly out of the bedroom and headed down stairs just as my mother was heading up. She had some cloths in her arms and she blocked my way from going down. "Yugi, were you just up in your room?"

I nodded, "Yes. Kaasan, why is Dark-san in there?"

"She came in soaking wet, I think she was caught in the storm," she handed me the clothing. "Here, some warm cloths for you."

I nodded and went back up the stairs, then paused to shout back, "Kaasan, Anzu's coming over, and Dark-san…she felt warm to me."

"She did?" My mother said following me up the stairs and heading into my bedroom with Dark-san's clothing. "I see. Well I'll check. You go get changed."

I smiled at her as she gave me a motherly look, and then hurried into my Jiichan's bedroom to change. Its bigger then mine but really cramped; he has stacks and stacks of books that are older then anything I've really seen. I quickly pulled on my black jeans and a black and white hooded shirt. My fingers dusted over an old photo book of Jiichan's that he had on the bed.

_Humm?__ I've never seen this one before, _I thought picking it up and opening the pages. There were pictures of my dad and mom when they were younger, and one's of me when I was little. I laughed, seeing that I was holding game pieces even when I was only in dippers. I closed the book intending to put it away when a photo slipped out and I pick it up.

"Huh?" I stared at the image seeing a woman who's just a bit taller then my Jiichan standing with him, arms linked. She's quiet beautiful and I smiled realizing I was looking at my Baachan. It's black and white, but I can see that she had a really sweet smile and seems to be really happy to be standing with Jiichan. I slipped the photo into my back pocket to keep it safe then walked out of the room.

Heading downstairs I paused on the last step and listened quietly. Kaasan was on the phone and she sounded tired.

"Yes, of course dear," she was saying and cupped her elbow in the palm of her left hand. "No he'll understand I'm sure. I'll tell him. Alright. Good bye."

I slipped back up a few steps and then came down again trying to look as if I didn't hear that conversation. It was clear to me who had called and I wasn't surprised when my mother told me Anzu had just phoned to say she would be late because her mom had asked her to run some errands. I gave a light shrug.

"So she'll be here a bit later, okay," I started to rummage through some games. "Kaasan, where's most of my board games?"

"In the left cabinet," she said, and I pulled open one of the small side doors to our new entertainment center. Tousan had bought it for us last year, and my mom had moved all the games into the cabinets, she claimed to make more space. Jiichan thought that was code for, "It's a mess down in the shop and I won't have a mess up here."

I was busy digging away at the board games, Risk, Monopoly, the game of life, I didn't look up when Kaasan greeted Dark coming down the stairs. "Dark-san, what are you doing out of bed? Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"I'm really okay, Ayami-san," Dark replied, calling my mother by her first name. I glanced up and saw Dark-san leaning over the couch watching me.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for games to play," I explained and she sat down next to me peering into the cabinet. I blinked and kept pulling out items, when she suddenly let out a laugh.

"Candyland!"

"Huh?" I peeked up and saw Dark was holding out an old edition of Candyland. She grinned happily as she ran her hand over the box.

"I haven't seen this game since I was ten," she grinned looking at me as she took it to the table and set it down. "My Gecko and I used to play it all the time. Although I think he let me win when I was like five."

I blinked, _Her__ gecko?_ "You played with a pet lizard?"

She stared at me, and then broke into giggles covering her lips with her hand, "No. No..I'm sorry. I should explain." Dark grinned as I listened quietly. "Gecko is what I called my grandpa on my dad's side. He told me too when I was little because I couldn't say grandpa, and it just sort of stuck."

"Oh," I said and gave her a light smile. "Bet people got confused by that."

Dark-san grinned and set the game on the small table, "All the time. Even after I got older and he was there. Kids at my school would look at me like 'Who's she talking about?'" her hands brushed over the box slowly and a sort of sad look came over her blue eyes. "I really miss him."

I blinked not sure if she was talking about him being in America and she missed him because she was away from him, or that he was dead. Kaasan helped sort it out when she said, "How long has he been gone Dark-san?"

She looked up and thought for a moment, "Six years this December."

Kaasan nodded as she asked, "You lived with him didn't you?"

"Till I was twelve," she said with a smile. "Then I moved in with my Dad. He and my mom are divorced."

Kaasan nodded politely, and Dark-san quickly looked at me, "So why are you digging up all these games?"

"Ah, well a friend of mine is coming over. Anzu-chan, and I just thought that it would be fun to play some games. Like old times." I explained and Dark-san nodded.

"Is she coming over now?"

"Not quite," I said pulling out a card game and setting it on the side. I had three piles, no, yes and maybe. At the moment the no pile had more because it took more then two people to play them. I dug a bit deeper inside, adding, "She said she would be late."

I heard the lid of the box on the table be tossed onto the table top and sat up. Dark-san was setting out Candyland, smiling some, "So let's play then."

"Huh? Oh sure if you want," I said settling in across from her. She pulled out the four little gingerbread men split them in her hands and then flipped them around behind her back.

"Okay pick an arm," she said and I pointed to her right. She pulled out the blue and red, so I took the red, which always took, while she chose the green and set them up at start and shuffled the cards. Her fingers played around with the small color cards, and I watched with a raised eyebrow. It was like a magic trick. Her fingers divided the cards, then merged them, split them again between her five fingers, and finally shuffled them into a pile.

"Were did you learn to do that?" I asked and she blushed.

"My Gecko was a magican," Dark-san explained and grinned. "He taught me a lot of tricks."

"That was really cool though," I said and her blush grew a bit more.

"You think? I don't show too many people," she said and I drew a card from the pile, blue, and moved my little gingerbread man to the first blue space that was on the candy path. I nodded and grinned.

"Yeah I think so. I bet it took you a long time to learn that trick." She laughed some and grinned at me.

"Well not exactly," Dark-san explained and pulled her card, moving her guy to a green space. "He started to teach me when I was three. But I could probably show you how to do it if you wanted."

"That would be really nice of you, Dark-san," I said as we played the game. She told me after a while that she used to make up stories about the gingerbread guys visiting the different locations on the board. I chuckled as she pretended to have her gingerbread try and learn the secret of King Candy, the leader of Candy land, and where he was taken to. I was surprised to find myself joining in and doing the voice to Jolly the gumdrop guy. Dark-san giggled happy, and neither of us heard Anzu-chan come in until she sat down next to us.

"Candyland?" she asked me, and I flushed.

"Anzu-chan! I…I didn't even hear you come in," I stumbled and looked at Dark-san who gazed at Anzu-chan. She smiled.

"So you must be the friend that was coming over," Dark-san said and grinned. Anzu looked at her carefully. Ever since I had the puzzle as a whole my friends had become wary of anyone that wanted to be friends with me. So I knew Anzu was trying to figure out if Dark-san was being legitimate. She must have felt that Dark-san was a pretty good person, because she shook her hand and Dark-san gave her a little bow."

"I'm Mazaki Anzu," Anzu-chan told her. Dark-san grinned and introduced herself, explaining that she was the new help in the shop. Anzu gave me a quick look and I cleared my throat.

"I was going to tell you," I blushed some, but then Kaasan came over with some food and drinks.

"Are the three of you going to play together?"

"Um…" I started to say looking between the two girls. I had invited Anzu to hang out, but I didn't want to be rude to Dark-san. But she didn't know Anzu-chan at all.

"Sure we are," Anzu said with a grin and smiled at me, "The more the merrier right?"

I nodded, as always Anzu looked out for me. Dark-san grinned and reset the board.

"Want to play? It's really easy." She held out the last two tokens and Anzu took the yellow. Dark-san looked at the lone remaining green and then set it next to the blue with a gentle smile. "I can't stand leaving a token behind when it's on its own. So these two are going to be twins, if that's okay with the two of you?"

Anzu laughed and nodded, "Sure, so how do we play?"

Between the two of us, Dark-san and me, we explained how to play the game. Dark-san seemed a bit more subdued with Anzu-chan there, and after a while, when we were playing our third game, one Dark-san didn't know much about, she stood up and excused herself.

"I should be going home. It was really nice meeting you Anzu-san." Dark-san bowed some and Anzu nodded.

"Nice meeting you too, Dark-san."

Dark-san looked at me, "Thanks for playing the game with me Yugi. I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded keeping my eyes on the board, "Yeah…see you tomorrow Dark-san."

When she was gone Anzu gave me a hard nudge, "Huh?"

"You didn't even look at her when she left. That's not like you Yugi. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied. How could I tell Anzu that if I looked at Dar-san I might blush again? I wasn't supposed to do that, after all I liked Anzu-chan, and that was that. I grinned at her. "Hey want to watch a movie?"

She nodded; a bit skeptical of my answer, but soon enough the whole thing was forgotten about. Anzu-chan stayed till dinner then went home. She waved happily as she left and I wanted to kick myself. All afternoon there were chances for me to tell her how I felt, but I couldn't do it. Dinner was a quiet affair again, and I kept moving the food around my plate until Kaasan said, "Well if you can't eat you can at least get in some study time."

Nodding I hurried upstairs and sat at my desk trying to study up on the early 90s for my world history. My mind buzzed playing out what should have happened today. Anzu-chan would have come in, and I would have given her a flower, then sat her down and took her hand. In my mind I had no problem being like other me. I could tell her exactly how I felt, and then she blushed when I asked her to go out with me.

"Yes Yugi," she would say and hug me. Maybe even give me a kiss. I blushed as I thought of that, then pulled my mind from it and stared at the page. I shut my book, feeling sick of history and sat down on the bed, and put my face in my pillow to give a yell. It was so frustrating not being able to say to her that I liked her. I was about to toss it back on my bed when I saw my Pjs neatly folded and a note on top of that. I picked it up and saw my name written neatly across the front. Flipping it open I found myself reading a thank you note.

_Dear Yugi, _It read and I scanned it to see that the whole thing had come from Dark-san. She wrote, _I just wanted to say thank you for letting me use your pjs. I'm sorry if I caused you some nervousness by me being in here. I know that I would be surprised to see some boy sleeping in my bed too. 'Laugh' But I just wanted to thank you for being so sweet and letting me use them. And also I wanted to say thank you for brushing my head to wake me up, it reminded me of how my Gecko, 'grandpa', used to wake me up when I was napping. And, thank you for the cookies yesterday. I really owe you one for being so kind to me. Your friend Dark. P.S. I made sure that they were folded the same as you left them. They're really cute. _

I smiled softly and put aside the note. _That was really nice of her to send it to me._ Slipping on my pjs I curled under the covers, and was about to go to sleep, when it hit me what she said. She didn't wash them, she just put them back, and I felt my face flush. It was just like she was hugging me. I settled my beating heart, and tried to sleep, but eyes kept flashing back from a bright blue to dark midnight and back again. I didn't sleep very well that night at all.


End file.
